Search

Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & Nightlife

« The Bat'leth Economy | Today in Useless Beauty »

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

City Repeat Customer

Posted by Erica C. Barnett on Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 1:13 PM

Despite the fact that I, an absentminded wackadoodle, have left my bike on Metro buses no fewer than three times now, the nice folks at Bikestation Seattle (run by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington) were, once again, utterly pleasant and prompt in letting me know that they have my bike in storage at their facility in Pioneer Square. I've said it before, but these folks provide an awesome service—not just storing the bikes people abandon on buses (an estimated 200 at any given time), but providing secure bike parking, promoting biker-friendly legislation, and lobbying the city and state for funding for bike infrastructure.

In fact, it's also thanks to the Bicycle Alliance that I just learned Metro is amending its ridiculous policy prohibiting cyclists from loading or unloading their bikes on buses in the downtown Ride Free Area (AKA the "chase the bus" rule). From now on, bikes will only be barred from loading between 6 and 9 am and from 3 to 7 pm on weekdays.

If you want more info on the Bicycle Alliance and its programs, you can visit their web site or email them here.

Share via

Comments (35) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

ECB, 3 times?!? You're throwing chum to the haters.

Posted by ruh roh on February 4, 2009 at 1:20 PM

How absent minded can one be? 3 times? What do you get into once you sit down?

Posted by Inkweary on February 4, 2009 at 1:21 PM

Bike station is awesome.

I've always wondered, is it true that vegetarians poop broccoli?

Posted by Shannon Ito on February 4, 2009 at 1:24 PM

As a guy who married an absent-minded whackadoodle, I can speak from experience. It was cute at first. It got old really fast.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty on February 4, 2009 at 1:26 PM

You can also now load a bike at any transit tunnel stop any time the tunnel is open.

Posted by boxofbirds on February 4, 2009 at 1:27 PM

How does somebody forget a bicycle? Sunglasses, sure. A cigarette lighter, sure. A cell phone, maybe under certain circumstances. But a BICYCLE? How many times this month have you forgotten your pants?

Posted by levide on February 4, 2009 at 1:31 PM

How does ECB believe in incentivized behavior given her own experiences?

Posted by Take that incentive to change! on February 4, 2009 at 1:31 PM

Wow, Erica. I'm not even a professional writer, and I can see the problem here.

This is not LiveJournal. What you should have said was that Bikestation Seattle provides a valuable service to absentminded riders, blah blah blah. Leave your personal experience out of it. I don't care that you're absentminded personally--in fact, it makes me think less of you, which is kind of the opposite of a testimonial. And you wonder why people jump on personal details to attack you. It's because you give them the ammunition, you dolt.

Posted by EmilyP on February 4, 2009 at 1:35 PM

Bicycle Alliance is great, I wish we had more non-profits like them!

Posted by primo on February 4, 2009 at 1:37 PM

Yeah, Emily's right @8 - be like her, not like me and you'll get way less haters.

Well ... maybe.

Posted by Will in Seattle on February 4, 2009 at 1:40 PM

Never understood the downtown ban. First heard about it of course when a driver wouldn't let me take my bike off downtown (flat tire). He said it was because Metro's drivers were so poor, they were afraid they might drift into me and crush me while I was unloading my bike.

Posted by Amelia on February 4, 2009 at 1:41 PM

Where does a woman this stupid find the nerve to mock the policies of Metro?

Posted by And don't even ask about all her tickets... on February 4, 2009 at 1:46 PM

ECB, don't listen to 4 and 8. Your absentmindness only feeds my massive girl-crush.

Posted by Fancy Drew on February 4, 2009 at 1:48 PM

How dare anyone ever forget anything ever!!! such people should be euthanized for the good of the state.

Posted by guy on February 4, 2009 at 1:52 PM

It's very easy to forget that you have a bike.

See this thread from a year ago about that:

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/dude…

Posted by stinkbug on February 4, 2009 at 2:09 PM

I love Bike Alliance sooo much.

Posted by Danasorous on February 4, 2009 at 2:21 PM

You know, I can never bring myself to use the bus bike racks. I feel like it's cheating. Silly me. Then, my commute isn't long either. Though it is somewhat hilly.

But if I did I'd probably forget by bike was there too.

Posted by ride to live, if somewhat neurotically on February 4, 2009 at 2:22 PM

I'm with @6 - how the hell do you forget your bike? Doesn't the helmet you are wearing, or at least carrying, remind you of that? Please tell me you wear a helmet.

I'm truly baffled here.

Posted by Brad on February 4, 2009 at 2:29 PM

@19 FTW. With your helmet on your head or in your lap, its pretty damned hard to forget. If you're not wearing one, no sympathy.

Posted by $30 fine, plus $51 court costs on February 4, 2009 at 2:37 PM

Sorry, that was @18 FTW. my ego's not THAT big.

Posted by bring your helmet to court on February 4, 2009 at 2:38 PM

@52-80, I agree.

Posted by fake fake name on February 4, 2009 at 2:46 PM

@8:

What part of "Slog: Seattle's only BLOG" has confused your poor, little brain? If nothing else, the level of snarkage here (at least as much as, if not in fact surpassing that of say, Seattle Livejournal) should have clued you in. If it's detached, objective reportage you're looking for, you've clearly wandered into the wrong URL.

@11:

That doesn't really make any sense. I mean, it's not like their driving skills would suddenly improve south of Jackson St. or east of I-5.

Posted by COMTE on February 4, 2009 at 2:54 PM

@22: The driver said it was because buses line up so closely downtown that they were afraid cyclists would get pinned between two buses.

Posted by Amelia on February 4, 2009 at 2:58 PM

FYI, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington now runs Bikestation Seattle, so the link to find out info about parking there (and signing up online) is now: http://www.bicyclealliance.org/aboutbaw/…

(the link in ECB's post goes to the California Bikestation website)

Posted by slugbiker on February 4, 2009 at 3:01 PM

I always wondered if people left their bikes on the bus what happened to them. Now I know.

Posted by Matt on February 4, 2009 at 3:14 PM

@ 8 and 4: get over yourselves, it's a blog.

Posted by kuribo on February 4, 2009 at 3:41 PM

@26, Can ECB get over herself? it's not a vanity project.

Posted by Not a vanity project for ECB at least on February 4, 2009 at 3:50 PM

@27, If ECB didn't write posts like this, what would you masturbate to?

Posted by Your irrational anger has been duly noted on February 4, 2009 at 4:00 PM

Thanks for the tip about being able to get on with my bike in the free-ride area. I used to have to haul up the steep Spring Street hill to catch a bus, it sucked!

Posted by Gillian Anderson on February 4, 2009 at 4:02 PM

@19 - you can't self-high-five.

Posted by Will in Seattle on February 4, 2009 at 4:02 PM

are you fucking stoned or what?

Posted by that would explain most of your shitty writing on February 4, 2009 at 4:15 PM

Oh good - it's not just me.

I've left my bike on the bus twice - once very drunk, and once distracted by the cute passenger I was talking to (and drunk). It's easier than you think.

But here's a tip, Erica: Next time, just cross the street and wait - almost every bus runs in a loop, assuming it's not on its last run. It will come back. (Mine did, both times.)

Posted by Free Lunch on February 4, 2009 at 5:01 PM

Amelia (23): That's a bad thing, how?

Posted by Oh yeah, I went there, bitches! on February 4, 2009 at 7:59 PM

One year during Hempfest there were 400 bikes left on buses.

Posted by TVDinner on February 4, 2009 at 10:01 PM

She left her bike on the bus for the same reason people leave their cell phone places. When you use something every day, it slowly becomes commonplace and then people's minds wander...

Posted by boo on February 5, 2009 at 1:20 AM